United 93 dredged my anger and hate about September 11, the silt of my soul that is never far below the surface.

I wasn’t sure whether I should see the movie. Some of you who have come to this page more recently and find mostly blathering about media may not know that I started this blog after September 11, because I was there. It’s personal for every one of us. For me, the memories and emotions are inseparable. Before I went into the theater, I even made sure to take my heart pill, because fear triggers my arrhythmia. I really wasn’t sure I could take it.

The planes hitting their targets one more time hit me as those scenes always do, except these images usually are not part of a drama; they are the drama. The sound and sight of the people on this plane calling home to tell their families goodbye was so sad and so close to home it was about unbearable; as I’ve told you before, since September 11, my children still no longer let me leave the home without saying that they love me and hearing me say it to them.

But the movie starts and ends not with the victims but with the criminals who committed these murders, praying to a God who surely must disown them or there is no God. They are the objects of my anger and hate.

The meme running through many of the reviews of United 93 is that it is carefully made, but the critics wonder why it was made. Let Salon’s Stephanie Zacharek speak for most of the critics (and more eloquently than many of them):

I’ve never had a more excruciating moviegoing experience in my life, and as brilliantly crafted — and as adamantly unexploitive — as the picture is, it still leaves you wondering why it was made in the first place….

But I went into “United 93″ with a feeling of dread, and ultimately, I’m not sure Greengrass did much more than pluck at that dread with dogged, if scrupulous, persistence. I walked out of “United 93″ feeling bereft and despondent; my stomach muscles had tensed into a seemingly immovable knot. But the picture didn’t make me feel anything I hadn’t fully expected to feel.

Yes. The movie is meticulously and masterfully made. The performances — including especially those from the people in the FAA and military control rooms who play themselves — are incredible. The entire effort is restrained, respectable, and respectful. It tries hard not to tell you what to feel because it doesn’t have to. And I can’t tell you whether you should go because only you know whether you could or should bear it. Nor can I tell you why director and writer Paul Greengrass made this film.

All I can tell you is my reaction, beyond that dread and sorrow and admiration for the heroism and humanity of the victims. I felt the anger and hate again. This is a movie about a crime, a mass murder, a Godless sin.

But not according to The New York Times. In a parody of Times reviews, Manohla Dargis — who also doesn’t know why the film was made — finds, or rather injects, a political agenda:

“United 93″ is a sober reminder of the breakdown in leadership on the morning of Sept. 11. Unlike Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” the film doesn’t get into the whereabouts of the president that day, or why Osama bin Laden ordered the attack; its focus is purposely narrow. But that narrow focus, along with the lack of fully realized characters, and the absence of any historical or political context, raises the question of why, notwithstanding the usual (if shaky) commercial imperative, this particular movie was made. To jolt us out of complacency? Remind us of those who died? Unite us, as even the film’s title seems to urge? Entertain us?

To be honest, I haven’t a clue. I didn’t need a studio movie to remind me of the humanity of the thousands who were murdered that day or the thousands who have died in the wars waged in their name.

No, I don’t think it is a “sober reminder of the breakdown in leadership.” I think it is quite clearly a sobering reminder of a crime perpetrated against thousands of innocent people by deluded fanatics.

And so perhaps we do need that reminder.

As I went into the theater to buy my ticket, I heard two young women talking about what to see.

“United 93,” said one, “that’s the one about the terrorists who take over the jet.”

Her friend replies, “You know I don’t like action pictures.”

“It’s not really scary,” says the first.

It’s just another thriller to them, about a story apparently forgotten.

Yes, perhaps we need to be reminded of the anger and the hate. We need to be reminded to be scared.

while i don’t plan on watching the film, i completely respect (and feel) your position.

Mike G

Am I the only one who finds Americans incredibly, unrealistically pampered if they believe that within an hour of a hijacking, our knowledge should have been so perfect that we ought to have been routinely shooting down passenger jets full of regular folks, knowing absolutely that they had been hijacked and to what end?

It was five months and a week from Pearl Harbor to the Doolittle raid. That’s a normal time frame for reaction, historically. Not 90 minutes.

The Salon link is wrong; it goes to the NYT review.
Mike G, the point of the film is that the passengers in the plane reacted in that time. They took action together, thwarting the terrorists and ensuring that hijacking won’t happen again.

http://reelfanatic.blogspot.com Keith Demo

“It’s not really scary” .. what’s scary is how my stupid people there are in this country .. great stuff … I’m going to see this one today, and not sure how I will react.

http://United93 Joseph Russo

Oh my. I was speachless at the end, even sobbing. This is how a movie should be made! While watching the movie, I was in the flight, I was protecting those passangers, and the country. You feel the raw emotion and how the passangers came to rise up and fight back! You should be proud to see this movie, to be an American again. Whatever you do, take your wife who does not like to see these movies. Take a friend, share the power of this movie.

Like the passangers of United Flight 93, take a stand and Fight for your life and those around you. Because there are millions more like the hajackers who took over the plane. They will kill you without thinking because you don’t believe what they do. Remember that they will kill you because you don’t beileve the way they do.

America Unite, stay united and fight for what is right and good. For without hope, the passangers on United 93 might as well stayed in their seats and let the hijackers achieve their objective.

http://apostate.raqsstorm.org Woodrow Jarvis Hill

Yes, perhaps we need to be reminded of the anger and the hate. We need to be reminded to be scared.

To me, closure is about putting the bastards involved on trial. Trials defang in ways that bombing never does, demeans and humiliates them, and shows everyone the shallowness behind their hate.
However, that it’s as much the goal of terrorism to create fear, anxiety, and hate as it is to kill. That is, after all, why it’s called terrorism, yes? To me, that is the epitome of Letting the Bastards Win.

Jimmy

I had a lot of trepidation about this film. Didn’t really have any intention of seeing it because I still feel it’s too soon. I guess it’s part of the 24/7 world we live in that films covering tragic national events come about so quickly, but it still seems too soon. That being said, this is a very good film. It’s even-handed, doesn’t try to sway you one way or another, and doesn’t try to turn the event into an action-hero film like so many movies of this nature. The movie tries hard, almost too hard, to show us what was going through the minds of people on both sides and I liked that. After my initial trepidation I can whole-hearted recommend it to family friends.

http://moviesandmore.typepad.com Patricia

Dargis finds politics in every movie she sees. She is unhinged. Her rant about Western civilization in the review of Master and Commander was one reason I finally canceled my LAT subscription.

I plan to see the movie. Even if their website poses the weasely question of why they hate us, it will a 9/11 movie that admits of American heroism. The families deserve it–and in this long, hard slog of a struggle, we need it.

Kat

{Yes, perhaps we need to be reminded of the anger and the hate. We need to be reminded to be scared.}
I don’t need reminding–I have a hate for those 19 gutblowers and their kind that is easily triggered everytime I hear some moonbats yelling praise be to allah. I don’t need a movie to know we have pondcum like atta and co. living among us.
(To me, closure is about putting the bastards involved on trial. )–yes, just like the moussaoui trial–the courtroom gives that moonbat a platform to preach his jihadic bull.

rick_d

At some point a couple years ago some folks held a meeting and green-lighted the film, deciding at that time it would be marketable and would turn a profit. So be it–but the very idea ensures I won’t be among the viewers, regardless of whether I’d benefit from the experience (which I question in any case).

http://marginalizingmorons.blogspot.com/ CaptiousNut

The NYT cynically frets about,

“…the absence of any historical or political context…”

You’d think they’d appreciate it. After all, the NYT has raised that tactic to an art.

Clinton

To what end to we continually bring this up on a national level? Yes I join the journalists in questioning the reason for the movie. In effect the movie is not unlike the “Remember 9-11″ bumber stickers that are now fading on bumpers in every state. For someone 48 states away who is a mediocre mourner (to my own shame) even when it involves people I acually know, why should I remember? The only answer I can come up with is these things are kept in ciculation by those who want America to live continually suffering under the weight of all those emotions described above i.e hatred fear and the like because they think that the only way to be safe is to surrender all the liberties we enjoy, all our civil rights–we must surrender to our fear all the things that actually make America great and close up our borders from all wicked foreigners and turn the building meant for the arts into military bases. Indeed this fear had changed our society and not, in my opinion, for the better.So why remember it? Why Jeff? Why do we “need to be reminded?” All the chaos and sorrow that resulted from 9-11 was only made worse by the militarized paranoia that the media and the Bush admin unleashed in response. A free society will always be vulerable and I dont want to live in an other-than-free society. All this fear becomes the justification for more restrictions, fewer rights and less “opennes.”All this fear just changes the face of our oppressor from a guy wearing a turbin to a guy in a blue blazer bearing the presidential seal. I would rather the possibility of attack than the certainty of a life less free. As i said, no disrespect to those who were there, mournful rememberance is understandable.

Gregor

….I agree with the ‘Clinton’ comments above; unfortunately, one needs to be a bit blunt in opposition to these mawkish indulgements.

I’m puzzled why many Americans so enjoy wallowing in the emotions of the 9/11 tragedy.
Many have called it a “life-changing-event”.

Less than 3,000 innocent persons killed in a political terrorist attack is a ‘life-changing-event’ ??
Have these mourners no knowledge of history & current events … and the hundreds-of-millions of innocents murdered thru the centuries ?
What’s so especially disturbing about 9/11 ?

Over 3,000 Americans die horrible deaths each month in the twisted steel of automobile crashes — yet no one thinks twice about driving down to a movie theater for some artificial ‘drama & entertainment’ . Where’s the logic ?

The threat from islamic terrorism is very small … because that group has very little practical capability to do us any serious harm. There have been zero attacks on the U.S. proper since 9/11 … surely this worldwide, well-organized, fanatical, suicidal, America-hating group could have at least thrown a brick thru a Post Office window in Nebraska — or at least done something symbolic to keep us all hiding under our beds & begging for an even bigger American police-state.

Hollywood’s primary product is the hyper-stimulation of human emotion. That’s OK if one recognizes and accepts it as mere amusement, but dangerous when
accepted (..and even praised) as reality.

Rely on reason — not emotion to guide your life.

——————-

Mark

The threat from islamic terrorism is very small â€¦ because that group has very little practical capability to do us any serious harm.

Hmm, I consider their incredibly easily executed assault on our press, that successfully muzzled same, to be extremely serious harm.

Matthew

I have to agree with Gregor and Mark. The fact that our media, and other organizations around our country (most shamefully publications like the New York Post) continue to have 9/11 related stories in the papers EVERY DAY is ridiculous.

My fear, anger and sadness has turned to despondence and questioning as our current administration has used this tragedy as an excuse to enact a miserable series of atrocities against our people and the world. The aweful acts of this event recounted in this film can only be matched by the awful actions we have seen since then. Prisoners tortured, and removed from fair trial process, innocents killed, soldiers abused with no clear plan for their future, rights taken away, privacy eliminated, national pride damaged, deals struck, and many a man made rich on the government contracts of this new world order.

I had one quick question regarding the film. Were people using their cell phones to call people from the plane? Because if that is the case…and it is based on fact, it is logistically impossible and provides fuel for some of the questioning around the web about the attack details. Some of which, i might add, while I don’t believe, once added up are very compelling.

Mark

I don’t think you agree with me Matthew, I was talking about the fear struck into the heart of the press that prevents them from publishing the cartoons.

Tankko

We need to be reminded to be scared.

No, we don’t. We need to stop being scared of things like this, it makes us do stupid things like give up all our liberty. We need to stop running around scared and put the event in true perspective. As horrible as it was, a lot more people die from traffic accidents and the flu. The odds of you dying in a terrorist attack is lower than you winning the lottery (twice).

sam

Read the article in the past Thursdayâ€™s Wall St. Journal by David Beamer, father of Todd Beamer, passenger on Flight 93. â€œIt is not too soon for this story to be told, seen and heard. But it is too soon for us to become complacent. It is too soon for us to think of this war in only national terms. We need to be mindful that this enemy, who made those holes in our landscape and caused the deaths of some 3,000 of our fellow free people, has a vision to personally kill or convert each and every one of us. This film reminds us that this war is personal. This enemy is on a fanatical mission to take away our lives and liberty–the liberty that has been secured for us by those whose names are on those walls in Battery Park and so many other walls and stones throughout this nation. This enemy seeks to take away the free will that our Creator has endowed in us. Patrick Henry got it right some 231 years ago. Living without liberty is not living at all . . . This film further reminds us of the nature of the enemy we face. An enemy who will stop at nothing to achieve world domination and force a life devoid of freedom upon all. Their methods are inhumane and their targets are the innocent and unsuspecting. We call this conflict the “War on Terror.” This film is a wake-up call. And although we abhor terrorism as a tactic, we are at war with a real enemy and it is personal.”

http://smudgedink.org Brendan

Another point that few have touched on is the fact that while many of us many not be ready to relive that day, and may never be, this movie was made with enough tact and accuracy, that hopefully it will have staying power for years to come to help those who were too young, or too distant from that day to grasp what occurred, the depth of the pain and anguish that we felt as a country, and the fact that out of that tragedy, we also saw great examples of heroism and selfishness, which unfortunately we only reserve for the immediate aftermath of such disasters, which perhaps is exactly why its not too soon after 9-11 to make such a movie.

http://divedi.blogspot.com/ Dimitar Vesselinov

United 93 – YouTube

Katha

I won’t see the movie until its on DVD and I can rent it for free on my Netflix subscription. I saw the Larry King show the other night with family members, etc. and I found it very unpleasant that so many of them have written books. Even the telephone operator who talked with Todd Beamer has a book out titled, “Called.”

Eileen

Cuppa, Jeff?

Yes, a few lefty critics ‘wonder why the film was made’. They’d prefer to pretend we aren’t even at war with the Islamocrazies, and that our enemies who blow us up are really our buds. They, their LLL brethren and the MSM would instead prefer to sprinkle us with their own brand of fairy dust. I “guess” our (AND their) complete demise would be their preferred gain. Kamikazi leftists. Oh, but please remind them if someone invades their home, or tries to rape their wives, or defrauds them, or wants to kiddydiddle their kids, that they aren’t entitled to defend themselves in that case either….or call upon the police (their proxies) to help them. That would be shameful, don’t you know. Defense of self and loved ones is just plain hawkish and unkind.

For the first time in my life, two days ago I bought a matinee ticket to ensure I’d find a seat for United 93 on opening weekend. I haven’t supported Hollyweird since I saw The Titanic many, many years ago. I wanted to attend in the afternoon so it would still be light out when I left the theatre.

I smuggled in a sandwich, since the Regals of the world feed off the sick tit of Hollywood and rely on their snack bars more than ticket sales.

Ah, what a day.

The film doesn’t disappoint. The whole range of emotions was evoked: the memories and the grief. As you say, Jeff, it is palpable – just below the surface – or molten hot and bare. For me it will never go away.

The theatre was silent after the film.

Walking outside alongside two eighty some year old women who had been seated next to me, we discussed it. One of them was mad as a wet hornet. She immediately spoke of her husband, who had been a Marine… and who had left her with weapons and knowledge of how to use them. “Hell”, she said, “Anything can be used as a weapon, even a knitting needle.” She wasn’t the least bit AFRAID. She – at eighty something – reads LittleGreenFootballs, and is very aware of the state of the Earth’s affairs…

Then tonight I watched Pearl Harbor on ABC. Interesting parallels. 3,000 lost on both the 7th and 11th in the only invasions the U.S. has suffered in modern history.

Ah. And then I came here to read a few comments from the Moral Equivalency Brigade, those who compare car accidents to enemy attacks on the U.S. Those who don’t view 9/11 as a life changing event. The conspiracy theorists. The idiots who wouldn’t recognize the enemy until their own heads were chopped off.

Sigh.

May the twisted, sick brethren of our enemy find a panty on their own heads some day (oh Holy ~horrors~) – or a barking dog in their face. And if they insist on making plans with Hezbollah, AQ, or any of the other rabid dogs which comprise our enemy by any of their names, their incoming or outgoing telephone calls to and from the U.S. *are* my business.

We’re at war.

When they try to tell you otherwise, just listen to the eighty year old woman I spoke to today.

sam

Eileen, Amen. I also can’t believe that the loony conspiracy theorists (yes, that’s what you are) don’t see the plain writing on the wall since 9/11, although the clues were all there beforehand — WTC in 1993, US embassies in Africa, USS Cole, Bali (resort), Amsterdam (film maker) Madrid (commuter trains in Europe), London (subway in the heart of one of the world financial capitals), not to mention the beheadings in Iraq. The NYTimes, the rest of the press, and some Dem members of Congress have hyped Abu Gharib as if it’s the reincarnation of Dachau. In fact, it was maybe a dozen out of line US soldiers who treated prisoners inappropriately and who have all been prosecuted and in most cases convicted. In their indignation, these idiot moralists have emboldened the enemy. What are they going to do when some Muslim fanatic is chasing them down with a razor-sharp scimitar on the subway…hope the US Army will arrive in time? This is an enemy unlike any other. Remember that.

sam

correction…WTC, embassies and Cole were pre-9/11…those other atrocities occurred afterwards.

Kat

But, Eillen, how can we celebrate diversity and tolerance if we are to be at war with gutblowers. Isn’t gutblowing part of their culture? Hell, there are many lefties who claim Al gueda is just a figment of our imagination. And others think that 3000 incinerated in one day is no biggie. Jiminy Carter thinks we should cooperate with gutblowers–killing Jews is just part of their culture–we need to respect diversity. If we don’t they will hate us. In Sweden they stopped investigating a terror central at a mosque because”….should be judged differently — and therefore be regarded as permissible — because they were used by one side in an ongoing and far-reaching conflict where calls to arms and insults are part of the everyday climate in the rhetoric that surrounds this conflict.” So in that vein of thinking, 911 was just part of the everyday climate in the actions of islamists. That’s what they do–we need to get used to it and move on and respect their barbaric culture…they’re just doing what mohammed did. If we don’t wake up and stop listening to the media and other terrorist tools, we are doomed. We will be headbanging with our asses in the air.
{In other words, if you threaten to kill people often enough, it will be seen as part of your vibrant cultural tradition — and, by definition, we’re all cool with that. Celebrate diversity, etc. Our tolerant multicultural society is so tolerant and multicultural we’ll tolerate your intolerant uniculturalism. Your antipathy to diversity is just another form of diversity for us to celebrate.}–Mark Steyn:http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/article.jsp?content=20060501_125827_125827

David Fuelling

Wallowing in the pain is pointless. To continually revisit this tragedy seems, to me, akin to being paralyzed and held hostage by resentment.

I am not suggesting that we forget or deny, rather that forgiveness will set us free.

It is time to move on and set the right example.

cphuntington97

For some reason my comment wasn’t posted so here we go again. I think it was because the google video url is kinda long.

So, please go to google video, search for Loose Change, and watch it.

That is all.

http://kalipuna.blogspot.com D. Mathews

…We need to be reminded to be scared. Perhaps, but not in the sense you are implying. Apparently we are still unable to reconcile that we were attacked by these people with the fact that we once wholeheartedly supported them. Expediency at the service of US foreign policy is going to continue to get us into a lot of trouble in the future.

http://www.advicegoddess.com Amy Alkon

“a Godless sin.”

These people weren’t godless. Quite the contrary, they cling to a primitive believe, sans evidence, in god — as do many people in this country. If everyone on the planet stopped believing in god at this moment, do you realize how much killing and hatred would stop?

I’m an atheist, and being an atheist doesn’t mean I’m without ethics, just that I lead a rational life, requiring evidence before I bow down to Zeus, Santa, Allah, or Jesus. Seeing no evidence (and no, one’s very strong feeling that there is a god doesn’t count), I don’t believe in god. It seems to me that I’ll be on the planet a limited amount of time (that’s all I do know), and I try to live well and make a difference before I become worm food.

I would even venture that atheists like me often have a stronger ethical framework: one we choose with great care instead of one we sit on a pew and swallow without thinking. Here’s a link to a blog post I wrote on that (hope you don’t mind me including it). It links to the Josephson Institute for (secular) Ethics.

When the passengers finally got a hold of the first terrorist and began killing him, a guy sitting next to my wife shouted out “f#ck him up!” and stamped his feet. Five seconds after the impact (ending), during the silence, a lady shouts out “secure the borders!” and another guy sitting behind me who had been fidgeting and murmering during the entire movie replied something like “there’s still time” followed by a little applause here and there.

I’m interested to read crowd details others observed.

I’ll shut up and listen.

Kat

{If everyone on the planet stopped believing in god at this moment, do you realize how much killing and hatred would stop?} Amy, if you were to get your head out of your ass, you’d think more clearly. And if we were to tote up the casualty count achieved by those few officially atheistic regimes the world has seen, the atheists have the non-atheists beat by a mile. Notorious atheist butchers like Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot,Kim Il Sung, Enver Hoxha,etc. killed and slaughtered their own people at an unheard-of rate. Â When it comes to piling up a body count, atheists take second place to none.

Mike

I had a daydream while working the garden yesterday. Hollywood dresses up like they do next year. They all walk into the Kodak theater and sit down. Some notary (I dunno… Speilberg? someone…) walks on stage and says… “the only award we are giving out this year is for best picture — United 93. Let’s have three minutes of silence.” Not a sound. End of ceremony. That’s the end of the show.

That was the daydream that skipped through my head then I started to think hard on it and wondered if Hollywood would actually do something classy like this next year.

Just me thinking…

Rel

I would just like to say this, I’m not sure how many will agree. I don’t think I could in good conscience see a movie that makes its money off of the pain of others. Jeff, I respect your opinion, and I respect everyone else’s opinion as well. However, no matter what way you slice it, I still feel like it’s exploiting the pain and suffering of the family and friends of the victims of 9/11. I find it downright shameful to make a Hollywood spectacle out of such a tragic event. What line do we draw between movies and reality, fiction and nonfiction? And just how blurry is that line? I personally will never forget what happened, and I know the loved ones of those who died won’t either. Why do they need a reminder? Haven’t they suffered long enough? How do you think they feel about the most horrible event of their lives being made into a neat pretty little 90-minute package film snobs can hash and rehash? Is there anyone out there who agrees with me?

http://WaltersJudson.com Joe Walters

People need to let go of all these events. No one can change the past, but we can change the future.
Belief in God is the most important thing in many people’s lives, including mine. Religion, though, is the culprit of Hate. God created Man, and Man created religion. As for 9/11, The U.S. must accept its own suffering for its bloody history. After all, “America” did not spread its boundaries from east to west by offering coffee and doughnuts to the American Natives.

Susan

I put this movie in the same category as Passion of the Christ : It’s on my pay-no-mind list. From everything I’ve read, it seems like a pointless exercise designed to inflame old wounds and titillate the clueless.

Tom

I just saw United 93. The I read some messages above. It weems there are (2) groups here.

Tom

I just saw United 93. It seems there are basically (2) groups here whether you want to admit that or not. There are those who understand that we are in a war for survival. If we loose, eventually we will loose all of our freedoms as we become controlled by the other side. Then there is the other side that is similar to the view of one occupant (in the movie) that was in the cabin of Flight 93. He said something like, if we cooperate, they will let us go. Dream on open minded moron. They will cut your head off in a reflex action to accomplish their goals. Wake up, we are at war!

Tom says, “…we are in a war for survival. If we loose, eventually we will loose all of our freedoms as we become controlled by the other side…” My daughter was in WTC7 – top floor – and saw the second plane hit. She hates what happened and hates even more the freedoms that our government has taken away from us.

Kyle

When 9/11 accured..I was very young. Second grade and I remember my mom dimissing me from school and being so young I didn’t know what to think, my #1 fright was my house being struck by an airplane..or some crazy man breaking in my house and killing me and the ones I loved. But now, 5 years later, my intelligence 100 percent higher, as I’m sitting through United 93 on the edge of my seat, I had no idea that those guys could have walked by me on the street on my way to school..they’d taken off from Logan Airport in Boston M.A.

I continued watching, realising my nervous habits were beginning and how many emotions were running through my head, I honestly was afraid I might have a heart attack watching the fear and aghony on the people’s faces..But I must say, because I was so young, it was tough for me to understand what truly happened that day and I thank those who participated in making this movie for showing me what happened that day, because I now have a greater care for the event that took place when I was say only 7 or 8 years old. I left the theatre that night awe struck but also feeling a little pressure, knowing that me, and kids my age are the ones that are going to be depended on to keep things like this from happening again.

Well, I’d like to close this saying..that I recommend the movie..

Nicholas O

Quiet frankly, I could care less if people are making money off of this movie. To myself, and it seems many others, that this movie is an unmistakable reminder of a day that changed the world. I must say I have never been taken back by a picture the way I was by United 93. To see the ordinary people that this movie so genuinly shows really hits home. It could have been you that day, it could have been me. The horror, fear, and desparation is not some sales tactic to make me spend my money on Hollywood hype. This was one of the best things I have ever seen Hollywood produce. It was real and to the heart. If you can just for one second, forget all your politics and need for reason and just step into these people’s shoes, you will feel that awe, and humility. We can all chew about religion and the war and what started all of this but what matters is that this did actually happen! To me it seems that most of our country and the world for that matter have forgotten or just tried to push it out of memory. What a sad realization. The mental midget that related car crashes to the attacks on 9/11 must have no real clue of what we face. I am not trying to make a political statement because all that has done is divide us. The fact remains, that this movie reminds us of an event that has changed all of our lives wether we wish to move on from it or foget about it. I believe that we need a reminder like this since we never see anything about that day anylonger on television or in the papers. I know many of you will say that “I dont need a movie to remind me of the 3,000 innocent people that died that day.” But I ask you to just see the movie. If you are so secure and openminded then open not only your mind to this movie, but also your heart and you will feel all the emotions that truly make you human. If you do not shudder, or sense your nerves tingling at the end of this movie, then I must pray for you. We owe a great deal of gratitude to those who were just plain old ordinary people. They were ordinary Americans who did what I believe is the greatest act of kindness. They sacrificed all, to save others. See this movie and I know you will remember and believe in what we are as a nation once again. A nation full of determination, hope, compassion and most importantly, love.

http://www.darleenclick.com/weblog Darleen

Thank you, Jeff

I saw the film last week and I’m recommending it… not to “wallow” but as a reminder about what we faced on that day and still do today. Your review and recommendation is the first I’ve found on left-of-center blogs and I actually find that sad. The film is non-political but too many blogs I’ve visited can’t help but see this film without hostility.

To Mike R

I won’t pretend to understand why your daughter perceives “loss of our freedoms” (which one) more “worthy of hate” then the worst act of war perpetrated upon American soil in its history. But let me tell you about the reaction of my daughter’s boyfriend, whose father IS a United pilot and United 93 was one of his regular routes – so there was a combination of horror, “that could have been me” guilt, and grief at the loss of friends. This young man has completed his bachelors, almost completed his masters (this summer), gotten his private and commerical pilot’s licenses and this October will be entering the Navy to train as an officer and fighter pilot. Many of my daughters’ friends, high schoolers from privileged families at the time of 9/11, have joined the military … specifically because they want to give back and they are clearer on just what we are fighting, even as the “adults” are not.

http://kalipuna.blogspot.com D. Mathews

…forget all your politics and [the] need for reason…
That speaks volumes! We have obviously learned nothing!

William

My mother actually wanted to see this film today on Mother’s Day. I’m just glad I didn’t have to pay anything to see it but I wasted four free movie vouchers. This movie was emotionally disturbing for me and my sister. My father said it brought back too many memories that were still threre. My sister was crying in disgust. I hated this film. The images were just too close to home for me to deal with. I was in Rochester, New York as a college student when all this happened. My family lives in Maryland which is not more than 20 miles from DC. My father could see the smoke from the Pentagon that morning from his office window in Maryland.

If I were to go to a theater and see a movie, I go to be entertained, or put on the edge of my seat in suspense. None of these happened today. What disgusted me about the film was the whole point of the movie. I think this movie came out 15 years too early.

I would have much rather seen Over the Hedge.

Don

I would love for people like Mike R. to explain what freedoms have been taken from us? I still come and go as I please. And if he is refering to the government listening to what we say…. well he needs to get a clue and realize that this has been going on for years and years. Way long before this administration.

As for the movie, It was the best movie I have seen in years. I recommend it to anyone. It seemed to just tell a story of a very ugly day in our nations history.

For those that think we should move on, would they also say that we need to move on from hurricane Katrina. I bet not. See I am from the state of Florida and we have had 7 hurricane hit this state in the last two years yet you never hear very little about that in the news. The news keeps talking about New Orleans and forgetting that it was not wiped off the map like other cities along the coast in Mississippi. Because those other cities don’t bring the rascial issue to the forfront it becomes a juiceless story to them. As much as I hated seeing what happened to those people that were stranded on roof tops I still have to put the responsibility of them staying in their house on them and not the local, state, or federal governments responsibility for that decision.

What I do believe is that when this happens again, and it will, those peopel who want to stay behind in their houses are forced to leave no matter what. Mother Nature is very harsh at times and she can destroy anything man makes. That has been proven time and time again. What those stubborn people have to understand is that everything they own can be replaced. No matter how poor they are. But a life can’t and we should instill in every citizen that each and every life is valuable and no amount of money can replace it once it is gone. If a person is left or makes it a point to stay behind without anyone knowing then if they are left stranded then they have only themselves to blame. This country would make a huge step in the right direction by preaching personal responsibility again. Not this attitude of who can I blame or what can I blame for my stuppidity.

Nicholas O

Don,
You are an idot for thinking that this movie was to entertain you. This was no Hollywood blockbuster like “Idependance Day” or “Twister” this was a flim to remind of us something that was monumetal. If you think that Hollywoods only function is to “entertain” us then you are surely mistaken! Hollywood has some duty to show us some realistic version of what life was like in a certain time. Wise up and own up to what we faced and that we as Americans had the courage to fight against our own defeat. We never ask America to bless God yet we should. No God that I know of says that Americans as the “infedidels” should pray for forgiveness. We are the worlds greatest hope. LETS STOP ACTING AS IF WE ARE NOT!!!! Name ONE nation that has championed human rights like we have…….Name ONE nation that have given billions to the native Americans….Name ONE nantion that have given reparations to slaves…..Name ONE nation that has tried to correct all the wrongs that humanity has made as a whole, except America. There is only ONE nation in the world that people are willing to kill themselves to enter. There is only ONE nation that people are willing to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars to make sure they have real ID’s? What is that nation??? Guess who? The USA!!!!! We still remain the Worlds greatest hope so lets start acting like it!

Ross

Nicholas, all I have to say is: you scare me.

[quote] Hollywood has some duty to show us some realistic version of what life was like in a certain time. [/quote]

Please don’t tell me that you are that ignorant.

http://www.comedychick.om Nancy

I saw the movie over the weekend and was deeply touched. The last movie that impacted me like this one was “Hotel Rwanda”. I did not leave the movie theatre feeling hate, rather perplexed at the irony that everyone on the flight was praying to God. All I could think of was the words of the late John Lennon…Imagine.

Thom

A hard movie to take, although I highly recommend it. Finally Hollywood is doing something worthwhile – recording history. Years from now when this has become part of distant memory, the movie should be used in history classes. We must remember and respect those souls on board who banded together and did what they could.

Nicholas O

Yeah your right……I was stupid for thinking that hollywood has some duty to show us of what life was like in a certain time. I was totally wrong. Those people will never show a true fact based movie. I am not ignorant to them, just thought they might have some dignity to try. But I definatly stand behind the rest of my statments.
Oh and Nancy, I also found that irony just as perplexing. But I did not have to think for long as to who was right.

Nicholas O

I meant William….not Don in one of my last statements. Sorry Don.

William

I just feel that a movie like this belongs in one of the Smithsonian museums in downtown DC and charge the guests to see it just like the theaters are. It’s just way too early for this kind of movie to be out. The film could have been made and then locked away for another fifteen years or so then maybe after the 20year mark, it could hit the theaters.

Nicholas O,
I just had a chance to come back to this site. And when I first read your comments I was really trying to figure out if you actually read what I wrote. But then I read the rest of the comments and saw your other comment stating who you were meaning those comments to go to William. I am glad…. because I didn’t know how I was going to reply.

As for William,

Well all I would recommend to you is that you go to a movie by choice. If you do not like the movie and since the media made every effort to let people know that this movie was emotional you had every opportunity to pick another one.

I am sure that no one held a gun to your head to see it. But there isn’t an arguement out there that can be made that this movie was too early to come out. My feeling is since the family of the members of that flight agreed to this movie it doesn’t matter what we the viewers have to say. They live that day every day. Outside of the other familiy members from the other crash sites, most Americans have forgotten about that day. Just look at the attitude of people today. Some even think the government conspired to have this happen. And for those that believe that BS I have some swamp land cheap here in Florida.

Our government has screwed a lot of things up, but we as Americans need to understand that there are people that want to kill us just because of who we are and where we come from. And those people are not 80 year old ladies flying to see their family for the last time. America is the most giving country on the face of the planet and will continue to be. But even with that if you believe the lies that are stated on TV every day you would think this was the worst country on the planet. Yet as Nicholas pointed out people are dieing every day to come to this country. I guess we still have some sort of appeal?

We remember September 11, 2001 as one of the worst days in history, a day we faced fear. But not everyone faced fear. The passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 was scheleduled to fly from Newark, New Jersey to San Fransico, California.

For them it was an ordinary day…little did they know that it would turn into a life or death situation. The hijackers of that plane were:
Ahmad Ibrahim A.
Al Haznawi,
Saeed Alghamdi,
Ahmed Alnami,
Ziad Samir Jarrah

These are the events that I know of.

At 8:42 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93 leaves the ground 25 minutes late.
about 4 minutes after that American Airlines Flight 11 Crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Centers.
At 9:03 a.m. American Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower.
At 9:24 a.m. First Officer LeRoy Homer Jr. recieve a message from Ed Ballinger, flight dispatcher for United saying…”Beware of Cockpit Intrusion”

At aprox. 9:28 a.m. the hijackers took over the plane claiming to have a bomb on board the aircraft. Around this time Thomas E. Burnett makes a phone call home to his wife, Deena telling her about the hijacking.

9:34 a.m. Thomas Burnett makes a second phone call home telling Deena the hijackers are in the cockpit. Deena then tells him about the attacks on the World Trade Center.

9:35 a.m. Flight 93 begins to reverse directions and heads East.

9:37 a.m. Passenger Jeremy Glick calls his wife Lyz at her parents house telling her about the hijacking. She remembers him saying “I can’t believe this is happening to me.” Another passenger Lauren Grandcolas calls her husband and tells him she loves him. Just then American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.

Between this time and 10:00 a.m. several passengets call their loved ones and tell them what is going on.

10:00 a.m. At aprox. this time Bill Wright and Holli Joiner are flying in a small plane mapping agriculture over western Pennslyvania. Descending in response to Cleavlean Centers order to land. At about 7,000 feet they spot U.A. Flight 93 about 1,000 feet above them. They report seeing the wings of the plane rocking back and forth (we believe this was an attempt to knock passengers over while they were attemping to regain controll.) The cockpit recorder records the last 30 mins. of the planes flight. A passengers voice can be heard saying ..in the cockpit! if we don’t we’ll die. Another yells let’s roll (believed to be Todd Beamer) The recorder captures the sound of the passsengers trying to get into the cockpit. Three F-16 fighter jets scramble around the Washington area. They are still unaware that Flight 93 has even been hijacked.

10:01 a.m. Andrew Garcia makes a phone call home to his wife, Dorothy. He only has time to say “Dorothy”. Before the he is cut off.

10:02 a.m. The cockpit recorder captures the hijackers saying “Pull it down!”, “Pull it down!” and “Allah is the greatest.”

10:03 a.m. Flight 93 crashes into an empty field in Shanksville, PA. Paula Pluta of Stonycreek Township saw the plane crash behind some trees about 1,500 yards from her home. She is the first person to report the crash to emergency services.

10:28 a.m. The North Tower of the World Trade Centers Collapses just 25 mins. after Flight 93 crashes.

I know this was more of a timeline then a review but I feel it’s important that we remember these events as they were a BIG part of our history. And that we remember the heroes of 9/11 such as: Passengers/crew of United Flight 93, American Airlines Flight 11, American Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77. And the firefighters, police officers, and all those who helped cleaning up with 9/11. Also to all the people on the ground that have witnessed this horrible day in history.

NOTE TO VICTIMS FAMILY/FRIENDS: May God be with you and your lost ones. We will always remember they’re brave hearts and kind souls. We will keep them in our prayers and thoughts.

But before I forget what this was about…the movie may have come out at the wrong time but it’s here and we should embrace as we remember the Heroes Of Septemeber 11, 2001.

May God be with you and god bless you all,

Samantha S.

samantha

I also recommened this movie I was in first grade when 9/11 happened and I didn’t quite understand it…now 5 years later I see how the heroes on Fight 93 tried to save themselves when no one else could along with all the heroes. I have recently traveled to New York. I saw ground zero my heart was broken and I couldnt understand why this people would do this. But it was because its what they believed in for some idiotic reason. This movie helps us understand a little more about at least one hijacking and what these wonderful and happy people went through. This movie shows us what the people on United Airlines Flight 93 went to to protect themselves, even though some of the events may not be accurate it’s the best we have to this day. As we remember Septemeber 11, 2001 we think about these people who lived normal lives with their families. The movie protrays this flight from take-off to landing and helps us understand a little bit more of the events of Flight 93. SO overall I recommend this movie.

http://www.wayofthemaster.com S. Anne

Wow! I’ve read all of these responses to the movie. I finally saw the movie for myself last night. I rented it and therefore I had the opportunity to hear what the family members had to say about it. They were courageous for previewing it before its official release and they felt it was completely accurate.

The only issue I took with the movie was in the English translations of what the Hijackers were saying. I’m offended that Greengrass used “God” in place of “Allah”. God and Allah are not the same and it’s important the world understand the difference. God is the Creator of the universe, whereas Allah is someone created by a man named Muhammad. There is hard evidence in the Bible of God’s existence from the beginning of time and man’s record of history only confirms it. I encourage you to visit http://www.godandscience.org/ and http://www.evidenceofgod.com/ for more information.

Just know that the “God” the producer show’s the hijackers praying to is not the same God we know as the Creator of the universe. God came to us in the form of a man thousands of years after creating man and the universe. He came to make provision for us to be with Him in our afterlife for eternity. Because He came to us fully God and fully man we now are given the opportunity to accept Him as our Savior and live a more fruitful life here on earth and live forever in Heaven. The Bible tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16). God does not tell anyone to kill others because they don’t believe the same way. Instead God tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves and that is what America does when it supports Israel and the slew of other countries we help every year (Matthew 19:19). The fundamental difference is that Allah spreads hatred and intolerance, whereas God spreads love and grace.

And to the comment about Lennon’s song Imagine… how about a song by Mercy Me instead, “I can only imagine…”
“I can only imagine what it will be like, when I walk by Your side…
I can only imagine, what my eyes will see, when Your Face is before me!
I can only imagine. I can only imagine.
Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing ‘Hallelujah!’? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!

I can only imagine, when that day comes, when I find myself standing in the Son!
I can only imagine, when all I will do, is forever, forever worship You!
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?

Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing ‘Hallelujah!’? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?

Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing ‘Hallelujah!’? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!

I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!! Only imagine!!!
I can only imagine.

I can only imagine, when all I do is forever, forever worship You!
I can only imagine.”

Finally, I do recomend the movie, because we do need to remember exactly what kind of war we are fighting. We are not at war against ourselves or our own government, we’re in a Holy War declared by a very unholy people. God is the God of Israel and America stands with Israel now and forevermore. God is the God of America. God wants to be God of your life, too. He has loved you from the beginning. Come back to Him today. Blessings to all! http://www.wayofthemaster.com

Paula

I am a latin person living in the nethelands Antilles; Ijust saw the movie…and it make me go back in the time and feel the pain and the sadness of this horrible day. I Know Americans and all the world suffered that day…but with the time many of us forget…and this movie is so emotional and so real that make me and for sure make a lot of people remind that the lost, the pain, the crime, the insecurity is still there. Thank’s God for all the heroes of that day…and so shame for the politics that still can’t do nothing to protect their people.